Bible Dictionaries
Geshem

Holman Bible Dictionary

(gehssh' ehm) Personal name meaning, “rain.” Arabian ruler of Kedar who joined Sanballat and Tobiah in opposing Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 6:1-19 ). His name appears on a silver vessel dedicated by his son Qainu to the goddess Han-Ilat at tell el-Maskhuta in Lower Egypt. An inscription found in Dedan also appears to describe extensive territories Geshem controlled. He was in name a vassal of Persia but apparently wielded great personal power with tribes in the Syrian desert, southern Palestine, the delta of Egypt, and northern Arabia. He may have hoped to gain further control in Palestine and certainly did not want a local power to threaten him there. In Nehemiah 6:6 a variant spelling of his name—Gashmu—appears.